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Charles R. Smith

Charles Smith is a partner in K&L Gates where he concentrates his practice to corporate transactions involving employee stock ownership plans and fiduciary aspects of employee benefit plans on behalf of plan sponsors and institutional fiduciaries, in particular, Charles has been involved in substantially all the large pension risk transfer transactions that have occurred since 2012 representing either the independent fiduciary or the plan sponsor.

Charles joined K&L Gates in 1974. Charles is active as a speaker on employee stock ownership plans and employee benefit topics across the country.  He has written a handbook entitled Employee Stock Ownership Plans: An Overview. Charles has also co-authored a chapter entitled “ESOP Fiduciaries: Decisions And Valuations” in BNA treatise “ERISA Fiduciary Law.”

  • Listed in Best Lawyers in America® for Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law (1989 - 2021)
  • The ESOP Association
  • Listed in “Best Lawyers In America” for over 30 consecutive years
  • Recognized as Pennsylvania Super Lawyer in employee benefits
  • Recognized among the nation’s Top 50 employment attorneys in the March 2008 issue of Human Resource Executive magazine.
  • Recognized as a Top 10 for ERISA Law attorney in Human Resource Executive magazine's Top 100 - The Nation's Most Powerful Employment Attorneys listing in 2009.
  • Recognized among the 100 most powerful employment attorneys in Human Resources Executive magazine’s 100 Top - The Nation’s Most Powerful Employment Attorneys listing in 2010.
  • Recognized among top 20 most powerful employee benefit/ERISA attorneys in the nation in Human Resources Executive magazines 20 Top - The Nation’s Most Powerful Employment Attorneys - Employee Benefits and ERISA in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Additional Thought Leadership Pages
  • "Employee Stock Ownership Plans: An Overview," Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, 2005 and 2008 editions
Additional News & Event Pages
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